Ramsay Street's hidden talent

Peter Neilson is an artist. You have probably seen his work a hundred times without realising it - Neilson paints the sets for Neighbours. He also paints artworks that sell for about $50,000 from leading Australian galleries.

At first glance, his work painting the walls of the coffee shop or the front door to Lassiter's on the long-running soapie appears very different to his artistic "urban landscapes" adorning galleries. Yet after spending a day with Neilson on the Neighbours set and then gazing upon his artwork, it is almost impossible not to see the connection.

"You can come in here some days when the lights are all down and they are just filming in one set. You move straight out of a coffee shop and into a living room or straight out of a living room and into a kitchen, and then you look at my paintings and the way they move around, there is a definite link," Neilson says.

People move from set to set every day, from home to work, from office to coffee shop - the world is made up of sets, and that is what Neilson paints in his artwork. His paintings depict city life, people working late and socialising. But they do more than that; like a plot from Neighbours, they delve deep into people's relationships, their business dealings and private lives. Which is not surprising, as Neilson's work on the soapie and his artwork have evolved side by side.

Like many artists starting out, Neilson found it difficult to make a living from his art, so he took a job painting television studio sets. "I wanted to paint and use my talents in some way I could earn money," he says. He began working on sets in 1969 with Channel Nine and has worked on such shows as In Melbourne Tonight, Division Four, The Sullivans, Cop Shop, Hey Hey It's Saturday and The Bugs Bunny Show. Neilson helped build the original sets for Neighbours about 16 years ago and then serviced them for a couple of years before leaving to pursue other work. He returned to Neighbours in 1999. Despite touch-ups, the sets have mostly stayed the same, he says, which gives the show its sense of continuity.

Sharing a coffee with 59-year-old Neilson in the Ramsay Street coffee shop, he looks like he has just walked off a construction site, covered from head to toe in a rainbow paint splodges. Neilson explains that it is his job to ensure the sets maintain their consistent appearance by putting fresh paint on the walls and touching up scuff marks. He also works closely with Neighbours' production designer Carole Harvey. "Pete can change one set to another just by doing a couple of painted panels. He can do it overnight," she says.

Harvey, who attends all of Neilson's art shows, says she appreciates his talent.

"He is just a great support - he makes me look good," she says.

Harvey was particularly pleased with the work Neilson did on the Neighbours hair salon. "I wanted the salon to have a bit of a French bordello feel, and he did that really well."

As we wander through the outdoor production area of the Global Television facility in Nunawading, where Neighbours is filmed, Neilson points out all the Neighbours facades so familiar to Australian viewers. It is like we are in a theme park from Neighbours and all around us are the best rides. There's Lassiter's Hotel, the hair salon and Lou's Place.

It is even stranger walking through the front door of one of the sets to find there is nothing inside, no Harold Bishop waiting to greet you. The sets are plywood facades - a metre beyond the door, there is a wall. All the inside filming is done in Studio B, 100 metres away. It is Neilson's job to give the fake buildings that "lived-in" look.

Neilson leans down and rubs his hand over the fading brown paint on the bridge. "Could do with a fresh coat" he says.

Neilson says he might not watch the show every night but he is very happy to be working on Neighbours. Besides, he says with a chuckle, "my 11-year-old daughter is always trying to find out what happens".

"It is a part of Melbourne now, the whole of Neighbours is a part of Melbourne," he says. The Scully set from the show was donated to the Melbourne Museum in 2000, where it is now on display.

Although Neighbours is one of the best-known shows in Australia, Neilson's role on the show receives little attention, which is just the way he likes it. He says the actors are important, not his work - he should be anonymous.

Until recently, Neilson's private paintings were also unknown. But that is all beginning to change. One of his paintings, called Big picture, has sold for $47,500, and a painting from his latest show in Sydney, called Through the door, up the stairs (you've got five minutes), sold for $45,000.

"There is an extraordinary spread of appreciation. People who have never bought a painting before are interested in Peter, and major collectors are interested in Peter," says Stuart Purves.

"A significant New York collector of Australian pictures" (known to many Australians but who refused to be named) was the purchaser of one of Neilson's works," Purves says.

But Neilson, in his laconic, relaxed manner seems unfussed by all the excitement.

"If people like my paintings, that's terrific, but if they don't, that's not going to stop me painting."